Bully

According to Wikipedia, “bullying is the use of force, threats, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively impose domination over others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behaviors used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threats, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly toward particular targets. Justifications and rationalizations for such behavior sometimes include differences of class, race, religion, gender, sexuality, appearance, behavior, body language, personality, reputation, lineage, strength, size or ability.”

More on bullying from the online encyclopedia:

“Bullying consists of four basic types of abuse – emotional (sometimes called relational), verbal, physical, and cyber. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion such as intimidation. Bullying ranges from simple one-on-one bullying to more complex bullying in which the bully may have one or more ‘lieutenants’ who may seem to be willing to assist the primary bully in his or her bullying activities. A bullying culture can develop in any context in which human beings interact with each other.

“Bullying may be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another person, physically or mentally. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person.

“Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus says bullying occurs when a person is: ‘exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons.’ He says negative actions occur ‘when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, through words or in other ways.’

“It is only in recent years that bullying has been recognized and recorded as a separate and distinct offense, but there have been well-documented cases that have been recorded over the centuries. Virginia Woolf considered fascism to be a form of bullying, and wrote of Hitler and the Nazis in 1934 as ‘these brutal bullies.’

“Studies have shown that envy and resentment may be motives for bullying. Research on the self-esteem of bullies has produced equivocal results. While some bullies are arrogant and narcissistic, bullies can also use bullying as a tool to conceal shame or anxiety or to boost self-esteem: by demeaning others, the abuser feels empowered. Bullies may bully out of jealousy or because they themselves are bullied.

“Researchers have identified other risk factors such as depression and personality disorders, as well as quickness to anger and use of force, addiction to aggressive behaviors, mistaking others’ actions as hostile, concern with preserving self-image, and engaging in obsessive or rigid actions. A combination of these factors may also be causes of this behavior.

“Research indicates that adults who bully have authoritarian personalities, combined with a strong need to control or dominate. It has also been suggested that a prejudicial view of subordinates can be a particularly strong risk factor.

“In many cases, it is the bully’s ability to create the illusion that he or she has the support of the majority present that instills the fear of ‘speaking out’ in protestation of the bullying activities being observed by the group. Unless the ‘bully mentality’ is effectively challenged in any given group in its early stages, it often becomes an accepted, or supported, norm within the group.

“It is the general unwillingness of bystanders to expend these types of energies and to undertake this type of risk that bullies often rely upon in order to maintain their power. Unless action is taken, a ‘culture of bullying’ is often perpetuated within a group for months, years, or longer.

“Bystanders who have been able to establish their own ‘friendship group’ or ‘support group’ have been found to be far more likely to opt to speak out against bullying behavior than those who have not.”

There is universal consensus that all such behavior, as described by U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf in relation to a recent incident of bullying as “ridiculous,” is simply bullying. 

And please note, honorable prosecutor, none of this has anything to do with Turkey.